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Zeiss pulled the veil of their long anticipated update to the Compact Prime line which will officially be called the CP.3 and CP.3 xD. The new line will consist of FF35 primes ranging from 15mm to 135mm in a lightweight, compact cinema housing. The new lenses will feature high performance optics at affordable prices with a couple of features not yet seen in the Sub-$5K market. Let’s take a look at the details of Zeiss’ new cinema primes.

Fujifilm has been busy… If you’re a Fuji fan like I am, you’ve been completely obsessed with the new GFX mirrorless medium format camera and haven’t been paying attention to the other projects they’ve been working on. Which, when you think about it – is mind boggling, that Fujifilm is doing so much at once. This particular move is a bit different for Fujifilm. Instead of making something that fits tightly into their own ecosystem, Fujinon Optical Systems has designed and manufactured a purpose built cinema lens, exclusively for E-mount cinema cameras. A whole new line they’re calling the MK series. The first lens in the line will be the brand new MK18-55mm T2.9. Let’s explore!Continue reading Fujinon’s New MK Series Launches With An 18-55mm T2.9, TRY IT at Duclos!

I’ve written about the Tokina 11-16mm many, many times. In fact, I was temporarily banned from REDUser years ago for backhandedly plugging the Duclos 11-16mm conversion – breaking the rules of the forum. I’ve since cleaned up my act (sort of). I speak often of the Duclos 11-16mm, and when I do, I always give credit to Tokina for making such a great product. I wanted to take a post here and acknowledge the original lens, it’s heritage, influence, and evolution over the past (nearly) decade. Continue reading Tokina’s Gateway to Cinema: The 11-16mm

Yet another bombshell has landed in the NAB 2016 battleground. This time, it’s Canon who has struck with a brand new product in a whole new segment, perhaps only tapped otherwise by Sony – The 18-80mm T4.4 Compact Servo Zoom Lens which features a truly hybrid stills/motion design approach with some interesting cross-breed features. Continue reading Canon’s New 18-80mm T4.4 Compact Servo Zoom

Not even six months ago, Rokinon announced a new line of cinema prime lenses deemed Xeen. This new prime lens set consisted of a 24mm, 50mm, and 85mm – intended to compete with the likes of Zeiss, Schneider, and Canon in terms of tech specs, features, and image quality. But there was no competition when it came to price. The Xeen primes halved the price of any of the aforementioned brands with little to no compromise elsewhere. Rokinon has filled in the obvious gaps with a 35mm T1.5 and a 14mm T3.1. Continue reading Rokinon Reveals Two New Xeen Primes

IB/E Optics, a German opto-mechanical design and manufacturing house, gave us a sneak peak at their new apochromatic macro telephoto prime lenses which will be available sometime early next year. The new prime lenses possess some rather interesting features. Not only are they true 1:1 macros, they’re original designs with 35mm Full Frame (Vista Vision) coverage, interchangeable mounts (PL, Nikon F, Canon EF, Sony E), internal focus (constant volume, non-telescoping), and Cooke’s /i data technology. Continue reading IB/E Previews New APO Macro Primes

Eager to show their engineering prowess, Zeiss has released a whole new line of SLR lenses they’re calling the Milvus. The new lenses include a 21mm f/2.8, 35mm f/2.0, 50mm f/1.4, 85mm f/1.4, 50mm f/2.0 Makro, and 100mm f/2.0 Makro. If you’re a Zeiss fan and these focal lengths all sound familiar to you, there’s a good reason for that – some of the previous ZF.2 lenses, which are now considered “classic” were based on relatively old optical designs. Continue reading Zeiss Announces New Milvus Line of Primes

Finally! Voigtlander announced the development of their 10.5mm back in September of 2014 with very little information. Now we have a ship date of June, 2015 and a price of approximately $1,149. Duclos Lenses is taking pre-orders for the lens which it will offer with their Cine-Mod for a price of $1,349. I’ve not yet been able to test the quality of this new ultra-wide prime, but if the other lenses in the Nokton line are any indication, I think we’ll all be very happy to finally have an ultra-wide, ultra-fast prime lens with proper manual controls. Continue reading Voigtlander Nokton 10.5mm Shipping and Price Details Revealed

Rental houses have been the backbone of motion picture acquisition equipment for decades. They paved the way for professionals to get their hands on the gear they needed. The way I see it, there are a few different types: the seasoned professionals who demand nothing but Panavision gear for their projects. That’s fine… Panavision works very hard to meet the needs of their clientele and they deserve the reputation they’ve earned. Then there’s the other working pros who enjoy a slightly more progressive approach with more options. They’ll turn to popular rental houses such as Clairmont Camera, Otto Nemenz, Keslow Camera, The Camera House, and dozens more. The rental house environment has undeniable advantages for working professionals. The gear is properly maintained by qualified technicians, the prep space is an absolute dream at most rental houses, and the overall experience can make your entire production run more efficiently with a good rental house. But what if you’re looking for something a bit more budget friendly? Continue reading ShareGrid – A New Approach To Equipment Rental

Until now, shooting cinema on a Micro 4/3 camera meant you were using still photo lenses or lenses that were adapted or modified for motion picture use. The new Veydra Mini Primes are the first lenses to be built from the ground up as motion picture cinema lenses specifically for the Micro 4/3 platform. Considering the super shallow flange depth and tiny sensor size of Micro 4/3, the options for adapting lenses is almost limitless. But what if you’re using a Blackmagic or Panasonic GH4 in a professional environment and don’t have time to fiddle with adapters or down-time for vintage lens repair? The Veydra Mini Primes seem to be filling a gap that no one else has with a purpose built Micro 4/3 cinema lens. Continue reading Veydra, First To Offer M4/3 Cinema Primes

Rokinon just released their new Cine-DS line of cinema prime lenses with color matched optics and uniform focus and iris gears – but what’s the difference between these new lenses and the older lenses in the lineup and which ones will work well for you? Wether you’re just getting into cinematography or you’re tired of wrestling with your L Series or or crummy kit lens, there’s a better solution available. In this post we’ll take a look at the new DS line of lenses from Rokinon and how they’ll work with a range of different cameras. Continue reading Are Rokinon Primes Right For You?

Rokinon (Samyang, whatever brand you prefer) has been quick to jump into the world of motion picture lenses, using the optics and core mechanical design of their popular all-manual still photography lenses. The Rokinon lenses aren’t what most would consider professional, mostly because of their plastic housings, but the price, availability, and quality more than make up for their cheap feel. I’ve seen some very, very nice cinematic work shot with the Rokinon cine primes regardless of their “status” compared to the likes of higher-end cinema lenses. Currently, Rokinon offers an 8mm, 14mm, 16mm, 24mm, 35mm, and an 85mm. This would be a pretty decent set of cinema primes if it only had the 50mm.

Rumors have been floating around for over a year that a 50mm would be available and it loos like the wait is finally over. Rokinon recently posted a photo to their Facebook page indicating the imminent announcement of a new focal length in their cine prime line-up. Additionally, a lot of the rumors floating around are claiming that the lens will feature a fast aperture of f/1.2. While I don’t know if this is true or not, a 50mm focal length in the Rokinon cine primes series will be a welcome addition at f/1.4 or faster.

Keep an eye on the blog for an update once officially announced. You can bet Duclos Lenses will offer a Pro Set with all the great focal lengths including a new 50mm, at a substantial discount!

UPDATE:

Well there you have it. Rokinon officially announced the new 50mm with specs and a September ship date. The lens will offer a respectable aperture of T1.5 just like the rest of the fast primes. I know a lot of folks were hoping for a faster aperture but I think that matching the rest of the set is plenty fair. Naturally it will cover 35mm Full Frame and feature all the other accouterments as the rest of the Cine Prime line. The other great bit of news is the price: at $549, this is by far the most affordable 50mm Cine Prime currently available. Head on over to Duclos Lenses to pre-order the new 50mm Rokinon today!

I don’t usually cover too much still photo lens news but let’s face it.. It’s all merging these days. Yes, I’ve devoted my entire professional life to cinema lenses. Yes, there’s a large difference in design, manufacturing, and application between photo in motion lenses. But I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t equally interested (and invested) in still photography. I believe a bit of background is due before we get to the news. I’ve shot with a good range of cameras just like most hipste… I mean, people… Everything from a 120 twin lens reflex camera, to Leica rangefinders, to my shiny new Fuji X system. At the moment, most of my personal lens investment is in the Fuji X System including Fujinon, Zeiss, and Rokinon lenses. Leica is a system that I’ve always loved but never had the means to dive into beyond a vintage M3 with 50mm ‘Cron. I used to feel that Leica had lost some of it’s magic in the recent past due to it’s partnership with Panasonic. But I’ve since come to learn that some organizations make better products than others and when you recognize the quality and efforts of a fellow manufacturer and are able to collaborate successfully, it can sometimes lead to magical new products that consumers would otherwise never had access to. On top of that, Leica has proven that they still have the magic touch when they unveiled their Summilux-C Primes – one of the most advanced, highest performing cinema prime lens systems one can wish for. That said, the new products announced by Leica today are a gesture to the rest of us that Leica is paying attention to what photographers want and injecting it with a bit of that Leica design and manufacturing that has set them apart from their competition time and time again.

T-Mount Lenses

Leica is launching the new system with two lenses; a 23mm f/2 prime and an 18-56mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom. As one would expect, the optics are very nice. The build quality is fine considering their compact, portable form factor – reminiscent of the older Leica R mixed with Panasonic Lumix / Leica lenses in a way. The new lenses which, needless to say, are designed for the new camera. When I say they are “designed” for the new camera, I don’t mean that they’re custom tailored to some unicorn sensor that benefits from a uniquely manufactured lens… All that really means is that these lenses are APS-C format. Leica designs and manufactures lenses for a variety of other formats including their compact point and shoot cameras with tiny little sensors, Micro 4/3 sensors in the form of their Panasonic partnership, 35mm Full Frame that everyone knows as their vintage R Series and broad range of M Series lenses, and of course their medium format S System lenses. These two new lenses are designed specifically for the APS-C T Mount system of their new camera which somewhat new territory for Leica (unless you consider the Super35 format Summicron and Summilux-C primes as APS-C). Personally, I think this is a great intro to an underutilized format. APS-C (very similar to Super35) is the standard in the motion picture world but it gets a bad wrap in the world of still photography which is why everyone is still comparing APS-C lenses to 35mm equivalents. I won’t go down this path too much because it’s a topic that has plagued the motion picture industry and fueled countless internet forum wars and I simply can’t stand all of the incorrect, uneducated information that is floating around. I digress.

More Lenses to Come

Two lenses at launch isn’t really anything great but you have to start somewhere. Fuji did the same thing with their X system and even now after a few years only offers a limited selection of lenses. Leica also showed two additional lenses that are begin developed which are a 11-23mm f/3.5-4.5 and 55-135mm f/3.5-4.5 due out later this year. You can bet that Leica has a few aces of their sleeve including some fine Summilux and even Noctilux primes in the near future. In addition to the new T Mount System, Leica is also supporting their legacy M Mount lenses with a very nice adapter. I’m sure with it’s mirrorless, shallow flange depth, there will be plenty of other adapters to come from other manufacturers as well. Here’s some of the nerdy specs we all love:

Leica T Type 701

The camera is what it is. There will be a new one to replace it in a few months. I had a chance to play with it and I really do like the build quality. The mono chassis that Leica is touting so much really does make this a solid, well balanced camera. The large touchscreen at the rear is a nice way to keep the camera clean and uncluttered. The optional EVF is a bit on the sluggish side especially when compared to something like the XT-1 from Fuji. Overall, this is a very strong camera with some impressive specs and quite an attractive price. I think this camera line will keep Leica competitive in the current camera space for at least the next decade or so. Here’s the specs:

Leica T detailed specifications:

Camera type

Leica T (Type 701)

Lens connection

Leica T bayonet fitting with contact strip for communication between lens and camera

If you’re looking for more details on the new Leica T Type 701 Camera, head on over to Leica Rumors for some more in-depth coverage. If you have any feedback, please drop a comment below. If you’d like to see more non-cinema news such as this, please let us know so that we can load you up with news of other new goodies coming down the pipe.